Preamble.
The main focus of western attention since February has been Russia’s Special Operation in the Ukraine, yet whilst the media have wanted us to hate Russia, they have also wanted to distract public attention from matters which have little or no relevance to either Moscow of Kiev, but are seated far closer to home. This article, rather than examining politics will be looking at how the public is being affected by current affairs and the manner in which this may steer the world into the future.
Power Games.
The last three centuries have brought immeasurable changes to not only every nation on earth, but also to the majority of the people living in them. Be it electricity or the internet, cars or even clothes, the last three hundred years have absolutely shaped today’s world. This progress has improved the lot of the western world, yet for all that could have been achieved elsewhere, it has been the less fortunate countries that have not only benefited least, but have been the benefit that gave former empires what they had. The last two years have seen huge changes compared to what went before, yet those facing us today are even greater.
Zero Sum Game.
In the space of two years, billions of lives have been adversely affected by an alleged pandemic, the restrictions on movement now replaced with restrictions on purchasing. Today we are faced with a local war in Europe, but the alleged effects of this are being felt far further afield. A previously throwaway world has been thrown into the multiple turmoils which allow their governments to exert ever more control over everything they do. Moreover, a select few individuals in government and business are reaping the rewards as a consequence like never before. This means that an already impoverished globe is now being milked for all it is worth.
Sum Game.
The last three months have not only seen fuel prices spiral, but a number of everyday items become increasingly hard to find. Everything from bicycles to sunflower oil are disappearing from the shelves, previous lands of plenty now being paltry. The fact that many of these goods are produced locally only adds to the problem, the alleged shortage of shipping containers not explaining why Spanish sunflower oil cannot reach Germany. We all know that when goods are scarce, inventory goes down and with that, prices go up, but with many basic foodstuffs being vital to the ordinary man, it is as ever the people at the bottom of the ladder that are supporting those further up. All this would be well and good for the few who are profiting were it not for two small issues; it is the public that supports their everything and that public is tiring of being played.
Being Played.
In an environment of increasingly draconian behavior on the part of their leaders and a dearth of what they want and need, public disquiet is manifesting itself in a number of ways. It would have been unthinkable a decade ago for western regimes to block the media of another nation, yet ten years ago, the public did not feel the need to read other countries’ stories. In the same vein, new legislation regarding demonstration has been implemented, the voice of democracy being gagged by governments that come in the name of that same democracy. All that is against the backdrop of a Russia that has long since left the political legacy of the Soviet Union, one where people can protest without persecution and who can ask the president direct questions. Many more questions arise in the West than the East, yet until the people are more forceful in their efforts, they will receive no answers.
War Games.
When thinking of war in the current climate, one immediately thinks of the Ukraine, yet the world has been coerced over recent years into not only supporting wars against created enemies but making the painful commitments necessary to fight them. As NATO has increasingly sprawled over Europe during the last two decades, today we see the old continent running short on fuels and fertilizers, yet it is again the man in the street paying for the idiocy coming from the corridors of power. In the East however, the stupidity of warmongers is now beginning to be felt by the Ukrainian leadership. Having experienced the privations of previous years followed by the horrors committed by their own countrymen, many Ukrainians are now embracing the opportunity to again be part of the Russian sphere. To this end, Moscow is offering (not obliging) many of those who desire Russian nationality the opportunity to apply, much of the former Ukraine now being Russian forever.
Match Point.
Some may see this as a flash in the pan, yet looking at both the political paths of the government as well as the discontent felt by so many normal people, rather than being a local flashpoint, events in Eastern Europe may presage a new dawn in a number of ways. Many have commented that Russia has not so much turned its back on the West, but walked away from a western establishment that is as obsessed with robbing the world today as it was centuries ago. In a world that is ever-more conscious, the pillaging imperial politics of the past are gone and with that, governments are forcing their own people into slavery in order that their economies remain viable. This is all very good when the wolf is at the door, yet when the West is at the Bear’s door, something is obviously amiss and Joe Public is no longer missing the realities that make up his world. Some would say that is when nations begin to destroy themselves, yet until the current western system meets that fate, it will continue in its endeavors to destroy others, its own people suffering as a consequence.
Own Goal.
The shortages we see today are troublesome rather than trying, yet as certain governments try to go further down their chosen paths, the privations will through necessity become more acute. For all the capitalism and liberty associated with everything western, the need for administrations to control their people will outweigh the values that their political model should stand for. The only manner in which the public will be able to remedy the problems forced upon them will be that they themselves stand, an unstoppable political train bearing down on the immovable object that the populations of many nations will need to be. Whereas a political tête à tête could solve many issues facing the world today, until politicians and people clash head-to-head, no solution will be forthcoming.
Endgame.
Throughout the centuries, great imperial powers only became great through their empires. The moment those empires were lost, so was any hope of ever remaining great. Today they rely on historical pretenses rather than anything else in their struggle to remain supreme, yet the only thing supporting the western dream is the increasing nightmare being suffered by their own populations. The very same West that was for a hundred years unable to give clean drinking water to those in its colonies made breakneck efforts to force vaccines upon those who now live there, yet mere months later, the very people that the West wanted on their side are in some cases literally galloping over to the other after having experienced the wonders of the West since Maidan.
As much as modern governments appear proactive, it will not be until their peoples are even more so that the changes they need will be effected. Whilst politicians are in denial regarding their failings, the West will continue to fail, but we only need to see the revision of attitude in the Ukraine to see that it is our own attitude that will chart our future
